Those involved with Westbrook’s first “Best in the ’Brook Fest,” which will feature a sidewalk sale, an outdoor painting event and live music, are hoping to attract visitors in the city Saturday for the Insane Inflatable 5K.
The Downtown Westbrook Coalition, which is working to revitalize the downtown, is using this Saturday to showcase artistic and business activity in the city. The Insane Inflatable 5K, taking place at Sunset Ridge Golf Links, is expected to bring roughly 2,500 people into the city.
Abigail Cioffi, the coordinator for the coalition, said last week that the group saw the zany 5K event, in which runners face massive inflatable obstacles, as a way to promote the downtown, with shuttles taking participants to and from downtown.
A major piece of Saturday’s events downtown will be a pop-up sidewalk sale. As of Wednesday morning, eight vendors were confirmed to set up tables along the parking lot of CVS Pharmacy between Main Street and William Clarke Drive.
According to Cioffi, one of the leading voices in the sidewalk sale was Julie York, co-owner of Weekend Anime in Westbrook. York said Tuesday she thought the sale would be a great way to get representatives from downtown businesses in one location “to really showcase how much is in Westbrook.”
“Ideally, it can bring people in from the area and surrounding areas for a day of exploring what Westbrook has to offer,” she said.
Although the list of vendors is hardly a fraction of Westbrook’s business community, York said she’s hoping the event can gain steam in the years to come.
“If it goes well and happens year after year, it might be a good little business festival showcasing all the small shops and diverse options Westbrook has,” she said.
Cioffi said a short list of additional vendors may still be added prior to this weekend.
One portion of the day that was originally scheduled, a multi-cultural festival, has been rescheduled for a later date. Due to scheduling conflicts of potential participants, Cioffi said, the multi-cultural portion will most likely take place during the holiday season, perhaps coinciding with December’s annual Festival of Trees event.
However, Best in the ’Brook will also feature the city’s creative community. Also Saturday, roughly a dozen painters will be dispersed among multiple scenic spots in the city for a “Plein Air Paint Out.” The event is organized by the Westbrook Arts & Culture Committee, which looks again to put Westbrook on the map as a place for artists.
Mary Brooking, an artist who runs the Continuum for Creativity on Main Street, has helped organize the event, and will host a gallery showing of the artwork the night of the event.
Artists will register at Continuum Saturday morning, and choose one of a number of scenic locales to paint a scene, including The Elms and the rooftop of the new riverfront building owned by Westbrook business owner Rob Mitchell.
“I’m thrilled to have Continuum be a part of it,” she said, adding that the Plein Air Paint Out supports local artists. The show, with an opening reception Saturday from 5-7 p.m., will allow artists to set prices on their pieces created that day, with the gallery taking 30 percent.
“It’s all about supporting local artists and the local art scene,” she said.
Caren Michel, an artist and president of the Westbrook Arts and Culture Committee, said Tuesday that she hopes the artists will help people see the “beauty of everyday scenes” in Westbrook.
“To show that the arts can mix well with other activities happening for Best in the Brook Fest,” she said.
Also coinciding with downtown activities Saturday will be a music stage sponsored by the Westbrook/Gorham Community Chamber. According to James Tranchemontagne, the vice president of the chamber, local band Jeezum Crow will hit the stage starting at noon at Blue Note Park, not far from the sidewalk sale.
The Maine Market, the city’s weekly farmers and artisan market, will also take place Saturday from 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Music from Worrisome Heart will be heard in Riverbank Park from 10 a.m.-noon.
For the organizers involved in Best in the Brook, the events are a way to generate more foot traffic downtown, especially as outside visitors may be making their way into the city.
Bill Baker, Westbrook’s assistant city administrator for business and community relations, said the city created the Downtown Westbrook Coalition, known as a downtown network, in order to bring more creative events downtown.
“The city created the downtown network coalition and resurrected the Arts and Culture Committee in cooperation with our downtown partners hoping that these kinds of creative, good energy, events that bring people downtown would occur,” he said. “We think it is a great trend for the city and the downtown in particular.”
Having them on the same day, he said, is even better.
“Every effort like Best in the ’Brook Fest and Insane Inflatable create momentum to build on,” he said.
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